ISU Heavy Assault Guns
The''' ISU-122 and ISU-152 'assault guns were developed from the IS-2 heavy tank. In fact, during the Second World War, more aforesaid heavy assault guns were built on the IS-2 chassis than the basic tank variant. This was partially due to a greater economy of an assault gun compared to a tank with a turret, and partially due to the Soviet tactics of using tanks in ambushes, where turretless fighting vehicles performed better than standard tanks. Overview The Soviets used their self-propelled artillery in both the direct fire support and tank-hunter roles. The heavy guns of the ISU-152 could be found supporting assaulting infantry with direct fire. Their ability to instantly destroy bunkers and buildings made them excellent for supporting infantry. The ISU-122 would generally take up positions on the flanks to destroy enemy panzers or anti-tank guns. In Flames of War ISU-152 The ISU-152 assault gun was used in the same way as the earlier SU-152 - a large gun mounted in the hull of a heavy tank. The ISU-152 used the same gun as the SU-152 but was built on the hull of an IS-2 tank instead of the older KV-1. The main gun used a powerful OF-540 high-explosive shell containing nearly 6kg of TNT, which helped it perform its duties of breakthrough and bunker-busting. The troops greatly appreciated the heavy assault guns, describing them as "Nekrasivo, no spasibo!" ("Not pretty, but thanks!") Over 1,885 ISU-152s were produced during the war. ISU-122 The ISU-122 was identical to the ISU-152 with the exception of the main gun, The ISU-122 used the more powerful 122mm D-25S gun that was more effective anti-tank gun, but also filled the role as an infantry assault gun. Model kits * SBX37 Heavy Assault Gun Company (five ISU-122/152 with decals and commander figurines) * TANKS13 ISU-152 Tank Expansion (one ISU-122/152 with unit cards) * SUAB08 Soviet Tank Shock Group (two ISU-122/152 models included) Model assembly The plastic model kits are composed of seven main parts (hull halves, threads, gun mantlet, and gun barrels) supplemented by upper hull details. * Begin assembly by gluing the tracks onto the hull. The keys ensure you put the tracks on the correct sides. * Glue the body onto the hull. * Glue on commander's hatch piece. You can choose between an open or closed hatch. * Time to add the gun. You can choose between the 152mm (the short barrel) and 122mm (the longer barrel) guns. Make sure the gun is completely inside the mantlet. * Glue the gun mount top of the piece in place. * Glue the vision port and headlight piece to the front of the body. There is a key to help position it correctly. * Glue the superstructure backplate to the body. * The vehicle can be supplemented with external fuel drums on the hull and spare track links in the front of the hull. SSO201.jpg|The sprues sold before 2016. Currently available ones look the same, just the plastic is in dark green colour. TANKS13-04.png|The assembly step-by-step. Painting Soviet tanks used in WW2 were most commonly painted deep green overall, called 4BO in official Russian sources. Some units did use camouflage patterns, though it was not a common practice. Tank turrets were usually adorned with tactical numbers, company/battalion/regiment markings and slogans written in Cyrillic; tanks from Guards Tank Regiments had the Guards emblem painted (a red Soviet star inside a golden wreath and with a red flag). Regular red Soviet stars were more common on Lend-Lease tanks than Soviet-built ones before late 1944. During the Battle of Berlin in 1945, the Soviets painted white bars and rectangles on turrets for aerial identification. During the winter, a whitewash was commonly applied to tanks as a mean of camouflage. Suggested paints: Primer/base colour * Battlefront Tankovy Green* * Army Painted Army Green* * Humbrol H86 green * Citadel Base Castellan Green* * Citadel Caliban Green * Citadel Waaagh! Flesh* The asterisk (*) indicates colour tones close to 4BO tone. Details * any steel metalizer (for exposed metal parts and threads) * any tone of brown (for camouflage patterns) * Citadel Base Ceramite White (whitewash, winter camouflage) Combat efficiency The 2017 V4 handbook allows deploying both the ISU-152 and the ISU-122 as support for tank or infantry formations. The ''Red Bear handbook introduced Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, which is composed mainly of ISU assault guns. A minimum size company of ISU heavy assault guns contains two vehicles, a full-strength one - five vehicles. Three- or four-vehicles companies might also be deployed to cut their points cost. General Both ISU variants provide ample firepower against the enemy. ISU-152 perform best against opponent's infantry and guns - in V3 edition, no save rolls were allowed for their victims, and the V4 edition states that all the successful saves against ISU-152's hits have to be rerolled. Due to the rather low speed of those vehicles, this unit is not recommended for those missions, where the player has to act quickly. The ISU guns are better suited for defensive missions and standard games, where their lack of speed is not a serious flaw. They perform outstandingly in ambushes, being able to harm even Tiger I or Panther tank on lucky hit rolls and bad opponent's armour save rolls. Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment This formation is composed of one command IS-2 tank and two (minimum), three or four (maximum) companies of the ISU guns. It is possible to mix the vehicle companies within the regiment - for example, one company of ISU-152 and the second company with ISU-122 under one command. A cheaper option is available - KV-1s instead of the IS-2 tank and 3-vehicle SU-152 gun companies in lieu of the ISU. However, when deploying the KV-1s command tank, only SU-152 guns might be taken to combat companies; as well as that an IS-2 commanded regiment might only have ISU guns. Such an amount of firepower makes the ISU regiment a lethal opponent against enemy infantry and guns - one or two volleys of their fire are often more than enough to crush whole companies of enemy infantry. Support for another formation The ISU heavy assault guns make excellent fire support for any Soviet infantry or tank formation, providing a punch capable of knocking down enemy tanks, infantry, guns and fortifications. Image gallery SBX37.jpg|The SBX37 box front. SBX37a.jpg|The SBX37 box rear. TANKS13-01.jpg|TANKS13 expansion set front. ISU_02.JPG|An ISU model with iron rims added to increase the weight. ISU regiment_01.png|The ISU Heavy Assault Gun Company from "Red Bear" handbook. ISU regiment_02.png|An ISU company chart in details. Category:Soviet Category:Tanks Category:Armoured Tanks Category:Tank Teams Category:Late-war Category:Support Category:Under Construction Category:Vehicles